What are some of the difficulties of drilling in the Bakken Formation?
Traditional oil fields extract oil from rocks with relatively high porosity and permeability, so the oil flows out fairly easily. In contrast, the Bakken Formation is a relatively tight formation with low porosity and low permeability rock, from which oil flows with difficulty. To overcome this problem, wells in the Bakken Formation use a method called hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) in which water and other materials (like sand) are pumped downhole at high pressure to create open fractures and artificial permeability. The oil can then flow more easily out of these fractures and tight pores.
Related Content
What are the oil reserves in the Bakken Formation?
How much oil and gas are actually in the Bakken Formation?
What are "technically recoverable" oil and gas resources?
How much oil does the Bakken Formation produce and how does this compare to what the United States uses?
Does the Bakken Formation contain more oil than Saudi Arabia?
What are the environmental considerations of drilling in the Bakken Formation?
Characterization and origin of brines from the Bakken-Three Forks petroleum system in the Williston Basin, USA
Brine (also referred to as ‘produced water’) samples were collected from 28 wells producing oil from the Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Bakken and Three Forks Formations in the Williston Basin of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The samples were analyzed for major ions, trace metals, stable isotopes, and strontium isotopes. The brines...
Peterman, Zell; Thamke, Joanna N.; Futa, Kiyoto; Oliver, Thomas A.
Assessment of water and proppant quantities associated with petroleum production from the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota, 2016
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has completed an assessment of water and proppant requirements and water production associated with the possible future production of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Three Forks and Bakken Formations (Late Devonian to Early Mississippian) of the Williston Basin Province in Montana and North Dakota. This...
Haines, Seth S.; Varela, Brian A.; Hawkins, Sarah J.; Gianoutsos, Nicholas J.; Thamke, Joanna N.; Engle, Mark A.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Marra, Kristen R.; Kinney, Scott A.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Martinez, Cericia D.
Assessment of undiscovered oil resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin Province, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, 2013
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 7.4 billion barrels of oil, 6.7 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 0.53 billion barrels of natural gas liquids in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations in the Williston Basin Province of Montana, North Dakota,...
Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Marra, Kristen R.; Cook, Troy A.; Charpentier, Ronald R.; Gautier, Donald L.; Higley, Debra K.; Klett, Timothy R.; Lewan, Michael D.; Lillis, Paul G.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Whidden, Katherine J.
Assessment of Undiscovered Oil Resources in the Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation, Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota, 2008
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 3.65 billion barrels of oil, 1.85 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota.
Pollastro, Richard M.; Cook, Troy A.; Roberts, Laura N.R.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Lewan, Michael D.; Anna, Lawrence O.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Lillis, Paul G.; Klett, Timothy R.; Charpentier, Ronal R.
Diagenesis and fracture development in the Bakken Formation, Williston Basin; implications for reservoir quality in the middle member
The middle member of the Bakken Formation is an attractive petroleum exploration target in the deeper part of the Williston Basin because it is favorably positioned with respect to source and seal units. Progressive rates of burial and minor uplift and erosion of this member led to a stable thermal regime and, consequently, minor variations in...
Pitman, Janet K.; Price, Leigh C.; LeFever, Julie A. A resource evaluation of the Bakken Formation (Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian) continuous oil accumulation, Williston Basin, North Dakota and Montana
The Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian Bakken Formation in the United States portion of the Williston Basin is both the source and the reservoir for a continuous oil accumulation - in effect a single very large field - underlying approximately 17,800 mi2 (46,100 km2) of North Dakota and Montana. Within this area, the Bakken Formation...
Schmoker, J.W.
Developing an oil generation model for resource assessment of the Bakken Formation, U.S. portion of the Williston Basin, North Dakota and Montana
Krystinik, K.B.; Charpentier, Ronald R.
USGS Releases New Oil and Gas Assessment for Bakken and Three Forks Formations
On April 30, 2013, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) released an updated oil and gas resource assessment for the Bakken Formation and a new assessment for the Three Forks Formation in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The assessments found that the formations contain an estimated mean of 7.4 billion barrels (BBO) of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil. The updated...
3 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil assessed in Bakken Formation
USGS Bakken expert to present findings at Energy Expo in Bismarck
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Richard Pollastro, lead researcher on a recent study assessing the undiscovered oil resources in the Bakken Formation, will present at the Great Plains Energy Expo in Bismarck on Tuesday, November 11.
3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation—25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate—
North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation.
Bakken Well in North Dakota
Bakken well in North Dakota (Photograph by Joanna Thamke, USGS).
Well Drill in the Bakken Formation near Williston
Water truck in background is providing maintenance water to a producing well drilled in the Bakken Formation near Williston, North Dakota.
Bakken Drilling
Bakken drilling and completion activities at a well along Interstate-94, 6 miles east of Belfield, North Dakota.
Bakken Drill Rig
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
Bakken Drill Rig
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
Bakken Oil Well
Oil-well pads dotting the landscape of typical badland topography. Thousands of new wells are drilled into the Bakken and Three Forks annually, making this one of the most productive plays in the Nation.